Servants to Greater Good
by FantasyBard
Summary: Merlin had always said that they were merely servants to a greater good. He was, at last, beginning to understand what that meant.


So, I have seen the Sorcerer's Apprentice three times and I have become obsessed with it, and the character of Balthazar Blake. This has been running around my head for awhile. It's really just a short one shot about Balthazar's personality as I see it and imagine it from the movies. It is a little random, and perhaps not brilliant, but I hope that you all like reading it nonetheless. I am working on a few other stories in this genre, so this is sort of a warm-up.

Servants to a Great Good

Balthazar Blake had lived more centuries then even he could sometimes believe. He would look at the youth of every passing generation and marvel that they could complain so much, when what they had far exceeded that of any other time. He felt it now especially that he was training a very typical youth of the 21st Century, his apprentice, Dave Stutlar. Just that afternoon the kid had been grumbling about the fact that he couldn't get a certain upgrade for his laptop.

Balthazar had given him little sympathy, saying that he could remember a time when the world had functioned just fine without technology and that he himself had never dreamed of such things when he was a child. He had been perfectly happy with just a stick and his imagination. Dave had just given him a loony stare, though whether it was because he couldn't imagine a world without World of Warcraft or because he couldn't see his master as a child, Balthazar couldn't tell.

At any rate, all this recent teaching had made him reflect. For centuries, he had never settled down, always on the move from one place to the next, looking for the Prime Merlinian. Now he had to put down roots of some kind, because training Dave would take awhile. But doing that had made him remember his own lessons with Merlin.

Strange that he could still hear the voice of his old teacher so clearly in his mind. Also strange that after thinking at some point in his life that if he ever had an apprentice he would never become a copycat of Merlin, yet he found he had done just that. From the most complex to the most simple of spells, he found that some of Merlin would just pop out without him even thinking about it. It wasn't even the words; merely the phrasing could echo Merlin's voice.

But it must be admitted that Balthazar was remembering more of Merlin's wisdom than simply the training of his apprentice. Balthazar had more than just Dave to occupy his time, and that sometimes was almost too much even for him to handle. It must be admitted that teaching the Prime Merlinian could be an exhausting experience. But while his days were taken up by Dave, his nights were filled with Veronica.

Veronica. How long had the music of that name sustained him, given him hope and strength through so many seemingly impossible lengths of days. Sometimes, he was afraid that he would wake up and find that everything had been a dream and he would be alone in the vastness of the world. And Balthazar had grown used to being alone. He had had lived long, seen the deaths of too many. He had pretty much learned that the best way to protect himself was to keep a low profile, which meant he could not allow himself to become close to anyone.

That had changed now, of course. First, Dave, then Veronica, even Becky (though it must be admitted that she felt a little intimated by him, which any sane person should have felt upon first encountering Balthazar). He was beginning to learn again what it meant to love and trust once more.

And that was how he had found himself remembering what Merlin had once said. Merlin had said so many times that sorcerers were not all powerful, and that while they had powers beyond the regular human, they were not superhuman. In fact, sorcerers were meant to be merely servants to a greater good. Their power was meant to protect men, and the good that men were capable of doing. Merlin had never said what that greater good was, saying that it was something every person had to find out for themselves. Balthazar had never thought that he would find the answer, but he now he was beginning to understand what it meant to be a servant to a greater good.

What did it mean to be a servant to a greater good? It meant that whatever you did, you could not take credit for it. He had to tell Dave repeatedly that sorcerers were not like superheroes. Magic had to be secret, because there were some things that not even sorcerers could do. Even in the time of Merlin, when sorcery had been more of an accepted practice, sorcerers had had to be careful to who they revealed the extent of their magic to. Since the very nature of sorcery was secrecy, it was oftentimes a thankless job. Rewards did come, but at their own pace and in their own way.

Some could live with those conditions. Others could not. Morgana, the first apprentice of Merlin, had fallen because she would be no one's servant, but would have been the master of all. She had preferred to destroy mankind if they did not follow her, instead of simply letting them be. Maxim Horvath, Balthazar's ally, friend and one time brother-in-arms had ended up falling to the shadows, because what had following a greater good ever gotten him? He had always believed that Veronica chose Balthazar because he had become the most powerful of Merlin's apprentices. That had not been the case. It would have been hard to say why exactly Veronica had ended up following in love with Balthazar, but then, the ways of the heart are seldom ever clear, and love was one thing that not even Merlin with all his wisdom could logically explain.

The moment when he had trapped both her and Morgana in the Grimhold had haunted Balthazar for centuries. He had sometimes been secretly tempted to open the Grimhold himself, and attempt to free Veronica, but than, he would always remember that he could not do that. If he did, he would endanger the entire world for the sake of a few last seconds with the woman he loved.

And he had made a promise to his dying teacher to search until he found the Prime Merlinian. For years and years, he had searched and traveled, thinking that he was close only to have his hopes dashed. It had seemed an utterly thankless task. But he had continued on, if for no other reason, than one selfish desire: for he knew he would never be able to free Veronica (or himself for that matter), until he found the heir to Merlin's power.

And yet, it was not until he had found Dave that he had remembered what Merlin had said and begun to understand what it meant to be a servant to a greater good and what priceless rewards that brought, more valuable to him than all the riches of the world. His reward came when he saw Dave struggle through a difficult spell and finally mastering it after seemingly countless tries. His reward was holding Veronica in his arms after a night of love (he often had to concentrate really hard on not making love to Veronica, otherwise he ended up grinning like a mad idiot in the middle of a lesson with Dave). His reward came when he realized that it was easier for him to laugh, easier to smile, easier to simple enjoy life without having to be constantly on his guard. His reward came when he realized that he was no longer alone and that he was slowly but surely beginning to live again, not just surviving from one day to the next.

Merlin had been right again, Balthazar had searched and sacrificed, striving at a thankless and seemingly impossible task for centuries. Some might have asked why he had done it, and even he had asked himself that on occasion. But now, the answer was clear to him. And he wouldn't have changed anything.

Merlin had always said that they were merely servants to a greater good. Now at last, Balthazar Blake understood what that meant.

* * *

So, there it is. Please feel free to drop a review and tell me what you think of it. Be nice, though, because this is my first attempt at A Sorcerer's Apprentice fic, and one-shots aren't really my strong point. Still, I hope that this was an enjoyable read.


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